"A portrait of former Gov. Richard J. Codey of New Jersey was unveiled yesterday in the Senate in Trenton, with Mr. Codey presiding as Senate president. He called the event 'a second public hanging,' [if only it were so!] referring to the installation just this month of the portrait of his predecessor, James E. McGreevey. He also said that if those who knew him as a young man 'were told that my picture would hang in a public place, their first guess would have been a post office.' ..." The New York Times, January 30, 2007, at p. B5.

Freudian slip, Richard?

In a state which has come to symbolize Capone-like rule by the mob, which is characterized by a tainted and corrupt judiciary indulging in illegal sexual favors, where judges accept payoffs, where justices "gag" their judicial brethren for criticizing the death penalty, in violation of the U.S. Constitution, where billions of dollars disappear from the public treasury, where $100 million in public money is stolen by state hospital facilities, even as medical personnel trade in diseased body parts, where child molesters and child porn vendors are "affiliated" with state government -- in such a state, further waste of public funds on portraits even of heroic figures who are bound to play such a large role in U.S. history -- such as Richard J. Codey -- seems a tad excessive.

I suggest saving public funds to see if teachers' pensions can be paid, somehow, and if some of those many failing schools in New Jersey can be rescued. I would try to find a way to pay cops and firemen more money, also to come up with a selection process for judges and justices that removes politics and payoffs from the hopelessly tainted system which is now in place.

People throughout the United States have come to wonder how men and women in black robes in New Jersey, persons who are so visibly corrupt and lacking even in minimal "intellectual capacity" or professionalism, so willing to shield heinous offenders (like Tuchin and Riccioli), while indulging in cover ups and criminal frauds designed to deprive the public of its hard-earned money -- how do such persons wear black robes and "judge" the ethics of others? Ethics? In New Jersey? Nah, badda-bing, badda-boom. Same old, same old ... ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")

It is a mystery. Perhaps there comes a point when so-called "justices" are so sold-out, corrupt, bemerded by their actions -- and inactions -- that they lose any perspective or appreciation for the hypocrisy, duplicity and malice in their own dismally flawed and vomit-stained decisions. This may explain the New Jersey Supreme Court's undisguised pleasure in upholding death penalty sentences for urban minority males, who they know will be its only victims.

I am looking forward to this year's portraits of the New Jersey Supreme Court's "distinguished" justices. Aren't you?

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I am the author of: "Paul Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Freedom" (2004) and "Why I am Not an Ethical Relativist and Other Essays 2000-2006" (2006), both SHOULD BE available at: http://www.lulu.com/JuanG, and from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and free download on-line. In France, see Amazon, Fr. and in the UK, Blackwell.com. I thank however many people really view this profile. Efforts to destroy these essays are always expected. My image-posting feature may be blocked or destroyed by hackers.